Lessons from Thor (i wasn't sure what else to call it)

I thought you dead./ Did you mourn?/ We all did. Our father.../ YOUR father! He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?/ We were raised together, we played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?/ I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be king!/ So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights? No, the Earth is under MY protection, Loki!/ [laughs] And you're doing a marvelous job with that! The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you ideally threat. I mean to rule them. And why should I not?/ You think yourself above them?/ Well, yes./ Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill./ I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odin's Son, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it.../ Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?/ I AM a king!/ NOT HERE! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!... You come home.

I love the heart of Thor. He continually extends reconciliation to Loki. His heart is for his brother to repent. No matter what Loki does. Even in Thor: The Dark World, after he says, "KNOW that WHEN you betray me, I will kill you," he says, "I wish I could trust you." After everything that happened, after Loki killed him, he still forgives. While on Pinterest the other day, I saw something that I thought was quite profound. It said, "Watching Thor, I find it sad that Loki spends so much time wallowing in the fact that he's not Odin's favorite, but he completely misses the fact that he's Thor's favorite." It's most obvious when Loki dies*, Thor's grief is real and heart-rending.

Similarly, I think we, as Christians, spend much of our lives wanting to be popular or the cool friend or the favorite, and we miss the fact that Jesus is there loving us... Even after we killed Him. Sure, I may be stretching the example, but I hope you get the point. Jesus wants us to "give up our poisonous dreams" and come back to Him. To what matters. *side note: Yes, he didn't die and I was so upset that Loki didn't ACTUALLY die. He died so well. There was reconciliation. There was closure. Aaaaand they had to screw it up by letting him live

Captain America: The First Avenger

Wow, what a movie... now that Disney owns Marvel, it looks as if the superhero movies will get cleaner, and better. I am not going to say much because I don't want to spoil it for those of you who have not experienced the  amazingness. There is some mild language (though it is used "appropriately" if you follow me), a guy gets buzzed in a propeller, but other than that, it was really clean.  For some reason, the trailer appears grainy, but when you click on it and it begins to play, it is clear...

Don't you just love that patriotism... Heroes are made in America!

If you do go see it, make sure you wait until the VERY end before you leave the theater. You don't want to miss the ending scene.

Simeon

2 Cor. 5:17-21

Spoiler Alert!

Wow, I have not been on here for a long time. A lot has happened since then. I went and saw THOR 3D and was very impressed with its redemptive message.  I have to admit, I was skeptical when I went to see it (him being a Norse god and all). I expected it to be full of superstition, magic, and a pagan worldview.  I titled this post “Spoiler Alert” because I am going to discuss the movie and how it relates to us as Christians and want to warn those who have yet to see this amazing movie. Although it may look like it will be fuzzy, the trailer is clear.

The movie is about a boy becoming a man, finding out what it means to be a good king, and showing that suffering, seen in the right light, will produce good fruit. For those who have seen the movie, it is interesting to see the different shadows of Christianity sprinkled throughout the film. While Thor is on earth and Odin is in a coma, Frigga tells Loki that Odin “never does anything without a purpose.” (Was that Branagh’s shot at sovereignty?) Thor approaches the Destroyer and offers his life instead of the humans and the Destroyer smacks him with his spiked arm. As Thor lies dying, he asks Jane if they are safe, then he dies and it is in the moment of apparent loss, that Thor wins his greatest victory. Does that remind you at all of Someone else who died but won? Even after returning to Asgard, Thor again sacrifices what he wants to save others by destroying the Bifrost to save Jötunheim (pronounced “yodenheim”) the home of the Frost Giants, even though it means he won’t be able to see Jane Foster again. All this to say, I really enjoyed the movie and I hope you did or will enjoy it as well.

Thanks for reading,

Simeon.

2 Cor. 5:17-21

Another good review is: http://www.pluggedin.com/movies/intheaters/thor.aspx